Kane tipped to drop deep to fit in Richarlison

Presenter James Richardson has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte may play Harry Kane deeper to fit Richarlison into the team as a striker.

Over the past summer, Spurs spent big money in the region of £60m on bringing Richarlison to north London in an attempt to bolster their squad for the current season.

At the weekend, he started on the right wing for Tottenham as they suffered derby day humiliation at the hands of rivals Arsenal. However, Richardson has suggested that the forward may be given the chance to do some damage from a more central position in the coming weeks.

Indeed, while discussing his Fantasy Premier League team on the Chasing Green Arrows YouTube channel, the journalist spoke about how the player had been ‘looking so deadly’ that Conte may want him as close to goal as possible.

He said: “Richarlison had been looking so deadly before the international break, and then for Brazil, my word…

“And I thought Conte might just make him the main striker, with Kane in a slightly more withdrawn role and Son [Heung-min] doing whatever it is Son’s going to do when he’s picked.

“And that might prove to be the case. Richarlison certainly did get into some interesting positions [against Arsenal] and Son’s final ball wasn’t quite there. So that might work out.”

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TIF Thoughts on Richarlison and Spurs…

While he is yet to score in the Premier League for his new side, Richarlison has delivered three assists in the competition. On top of that, he has scored twice in the Champions League for Spurs (via Transfermarkt).

Seeing as he also scored three goals and provided one assist in just two games for Brazil over the last international break, it’s easy to see why Richardson dubbed the Brazilian as ‘deadly’.

However, with Kane down the middle, Conte has seen the Englishman score seven league goals in eight games (as well as a further assist), so it may be a bit risky to move him out of position just to accommodate Richarlison.

At the very least, Spurs do have a number of fine attacking options, so they may well mix things up as they look to steady the ship after a damaging derby defeat.